Talk:Essay:The Evolution of Troy Howell
I see what you mean about the US covers. Another thing that I've noticed is that since, I believe, Loamhedge was released, there has been no artwork on the back of the books; in its place is a huge color photo of BJ. I've noticed that all of the older Ace paperbacks have been reprinted in this way too. I think the books looked better when the photo was on the inside flap (or inside cover in the case of a paperback) and Troy Howell's artwork was on the entire outer cover. :--Cornflower Talk! 03:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC) Howell's Cover Art: commercial decisions What a great topic. I just spent an hour really looking at Troy Howell's covers. I am especially interested, as I am a collecotr of Howell's book illustrations. I can speak to the publisher's probable input as well since I am a literary agent. Troy went through a growing period in the late 80s and into the nineties working in different ways, and stretching his technique and experimenting with commercial illustration. In my opinion it was partly the natural experimentation of the growing artist, but perhaps the strain of following publisher's specs took a toll as well. During this time Troy was doing a lot of workaday pencil drawing illustrations in a very commercial industry. Publishers are notorious for cramping the style, even crushing the style of many a good illustrator, molding them into a robot producing images dictated by a merciless art department. I felt his commercial work become more sterile, sacrificing some of the art for the purpose of illustration. So I do see a change as you point out. I am certain that an artist would never make the choice of reducing their (unencumbered by lettering) percent of the cover from the original 80% space for art on the early iRedwall/i covers to the later 40% space for art. This would be a publisher's dictate. So, within this greatly reduced space Howell needed to keep the character centered, and still try to tell a story. There was no room for the treatment of the earlier book covers: a detailed scene surrounded by softly illustrated borders framing and editorializing the subject. Howell made a bold decision to take back the whole cover. He re-established his control with a striking and simple background, against which the author's name and title could simply be a frame for his subject. In each of his later covers we have a memorable artistic experience in spite of the lettering. In fact Howell learned to incorporate the title into his palette and design, though clearly a decision (likely contractual) had been made that the author's font would remain constant. Working within his 40% of the cover Troy did two things. Frst, he made the cover his, in spite of the constricting specs, and though this changed his "Redwall style", he remained true to his vision. His characters, to my mind, seem more dynamic and fascinating; and secondly, to my personal delight, he returned to a medium, a tone and magic that I saw in his earlier (pre-Redwall) work which had made me a collector. I actually find the later covers more "art" than "illustration". Whatever the actual scenario, the result is a strength throughout all the covers. I would buy about every third work straight through the series. I hope the 20th anniversary cover is his, and that the publisher will never take him off the project. So, though I really do see your point, and prefer the lettering be far subtler to give the artist more scope, I rather like what I see in the eyes of the subjects of the newer covers. Thanks for the article. Brilliant thesis!Audhumla 14:48, 19 March 2007 (UTC) :Thanks for the input Audhulma! Given some other comments, I'll probably be adding more to it when I have more time. You say you're a literary agent, out of curiosity have you met Howell? Also, I cannot wait to see what will be done with the 20th Anniversary, and hopefully there will be some nice bonus art. I'll say at this point Howell will probably continue to be US cover artist for a while. --LordTBT Talk! 16:42, 19 March 2007 (UTC) Hmm, I have to agree with you. The older Redwall covers I found much more interesting, both visually and in the sense that they really suited the Redwall world. My brother and I spent half an hour staring at the cover of Mossflower finding various details and debating over whether the red building really was Kotir (I won. XD) One could see the mold, the not very attractive parade ground, and rundown-ness of the building. The characters were also very realistic and lifelike. In the new covers, although I find them enjoyable as well, are definitely more cartoony. And it's interesting to note that the latest US covers bear quite a resemblance to the UK ones. The mice look basically the same, the backgrounds have the same feel to them, and stuff like that. --Pinedance Coneslinger Why do you fear death? 17:46, June 19, 2010 (UTC) Mistake I believe that you meant to write that the shield was in his right hand in the original and in his left hand in the subsequent (anniversary) editions :...that is what I wrote. -- LordTBT Talk! 16:46, March 27, 2011 (UTC) Occurred Occured --> Occurred. The Fivemole Mole Mole Mole Mole Mole 02:52, April 30, 2014 (UTC)